re = /(?<=(?:\[embed\])|(?:\[embed\]\s)|(?:))(https?:\/\/)(:?www\.)?(:?youtube\.com\/watch|youtu\.be\/)([\w\?=\&]+)(?=(?:\[\/embed\])|(?:\s\[\/embed\])|(?:))/im
str = 'bla https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vpg9yizPP_g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vpg9yizPP_g bla
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vpg9yizPP_g[/embed] bla
[embed] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vpg9yizPP_g [/embed]
[embed]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vpg9yizPP_g[/embed]
[embed] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vpg9yizPP_g [/embed]
bla https://youtube.com/watch?v=Vpg9yizPP_g bla
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Vpg9yizPP_g
[embed]https://youtube.com/watch?v=Vpg9yizPP_g[/embed]bla
bla[embed] https://youtube.com/watch?v=Vpg9yizPP_g [/embed]
[embed]http://youtube.com/watch?v=Vpg9yizPP_g[/embed]
[embed] http://youtube.com/watch?v=Vpg9yizPP_g [/embed]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Vpg9yizPP_g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Vpg9yizPP_g
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Vpg9yizPP_g[/embed]
[embed] https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Vpg9yizPP_g [/embed]
[embed]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Vpg9yizPP_g[/embed]
bla[embed] http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Vpg9yizPP_g [/embed]bla
https://youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Vpg9yizPP_g bla
bla http://youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Vpg9yizPP_g
[embed]https://youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Vpg9yizPP_g[/embed]
[embed] https://youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Vpg9yizPP_g [/embed]
[embed]http://youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Vpg9yizPP_g[/embed]
[embed] http://youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Vpg9yizPP_g [/embed]
https://youtu.be/Vpg9yizPP_g
http://youtu.be/Vpg9yizPP_g bla
[embed]https://youtu.be/Vpg9yizPP_g[/embed]
[embed] https://youtu.be/Vpg9yizPP_g [/embed]
[embed]http://youtu.be/Vpg9yizPP_g[/embed]
[embed] http://youtu.be/Vpg9yizPP_g [/embed]
<a href src="http://youtu.be/Vpg9yizPP_g">vid</a>
<a href src="http://youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Vpg9yizPP_g">vid</a>
<a href src="https://youtube.com/watch?v=Vpg9yizPP_g">vid</a>'
subst = '\\1\\2\\3\\4'
result = str.gsub(re, subst)
# Print the result of the substitution
puts result
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for Ruby, please visit: http://ruby-doc.org/core-2.2.0/Regexp.html